Swamps get a bad rap for being hot, humid, and stinky and a terrible place to be in summer. But don't believe it! Swamp Stomp at First Landing State Park this summer has been a blast. For those who aren't familiar with the concept: the program involves a short hike through the woods, under trees laden with Spanish moss. The park ranger hauls up big netfuls of muck from the bottom of the swamp and spreads it on the boardwalks. Then you root through it to search for the water bugs, amphibians, and invertebrates that live there.

This event is super hands on, and kids are encouraged to touch and explore, to gently hold and examine the things they find and compare them to pictures and information provided by the ranger, who does her best to make sure that everybody finds something! Anouk found a tadpole (with legs, halfway through metamorphosis!) and a couple of water scorpions and man, you would have thought she'd found gold nuggets. I love to see her getting less squeamish with bugs and squiggly things and to learn about the landscape that she lives in.




Besides learning about swamp life, we also heard, as we hiked, some fun facts about the dune ecosystem of the park, the variety of trees and vegetation (did you know this is the farthest north Spanish moss can grow?), and water quality (did you also know that the tannins in leaves make the swamp water super pure to drink? -- but I'm not going to try it any time soon).

Swamp Stomp is held at the park every Tuesday and Friday throughout the summer and is only one of the fantastic programs that First Landing puts on. Check out the full roster of offerings here.

PS: BUG SPRAY. We've found picaridin to be the best against mosquitoes, ticks, and those awful biting flies.

One of the signs of spring in the Coastal Virginia area is the annual Gloucester Daffodil Festival. Anouk loves daffodils (her birthday flowers) and begged to go, and so we made the hour and a half or so drive from Norfolk this past weekend. Worth it! Besides enough flowers to make a horticulturalist (or Anouk) happy, the daffodil festival features a parade, vendors, food, crafts, music, and enough more to keep a couple of kids occupied for four or five hours, give or take a minor meltdown or two.
All three of our kids loved the dog show (so many furry friends to pet!). They also enjoyed peeking into the Gloucester Court House and History Museum, and running around the grass outside. Anouk had a blast working with the Fairfield Foundation as they did archaeological work uncovering the site of a 19th century store. Gus was pretty happy with the giant bag of kettle corn we bought.



 It would have been nice if the kids area had featured more activities that didn't involve waiting in the longest-ever lines, but we are already looking forward to coming back for the Daffodil Festival next year and spending more time in Gloucester in general. It's one of the cutest little towns in the area and there were so many local businesses we didn't get to stop by on this visit. I probably could have spent four or five hours in the used bookstore alone.

The daffodil has a long history in Gloucester County, which I didn't know until the festival, and for centuries was one of the area's biggest sources of income. Super interesting (if you're into that sort of thing, which I am). Read all about it here.